Method of producing building-blocks.



J. H. FRITZINGER. METHOD or PRODUCING BUILDING BLOCKS. APPLICATION FILEDFEB II. 1914.

1,293,076; Patented 1 eb.4,1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. FRITZINGER, F PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 'IO NATIONALFIRE- PROOFING COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OFPENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF PRODUCING BUILDING-BLOCKS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. Fnrrzmonn, a citizen of the United States,residing at "Perth Amboy, county of Middlesex, and

State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Method ofProducing Building-Blocks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a method of producing a hollow tile block.

In the art of erecting buildings hollow tile blocks are now extensivelyused, more particularly in the construction of floors,

"but until recent years such blocks, owing to their rough andunfinishedcondition, have not been employed to any considerable extentin the construction of walls without imparting to the wall a surfacefinish both 'exteriorly and interiorly. The interior surand peel off.

Owing to the advantages inherent in a wall composed of hollow tileblocks, such as the well known heat retaining and fireproof qualities,facility for ventilation, and for installation of electric wiring andvarious kinds of pipes, etc., there exists a demand in the trade forbuilding blocks which, when laid in a wall, will have a desired finishand attractive appearance without resorting to the use of stucco, brickveneer, and other surface, ornamentation usually employed by contractorsand others.

The object of this invention is to produce a hollow tile block one ormore surfaces of "which are treated so as to impart thereto anattractive and artistic appearance so as to render the same availablefor use 1n walls without resorting to additional means for imparting afinish thereto.

A further object is to treat one or more surfaces of the block duringthe process of producing said block, thereby securing economy ofmanufacture.

, To these ends, the process includes the step of scarifying one or moresurfaces of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 11, 1914.

Serial No. 818,022.

the plastic clay material as it issues from the forming. die and isdelivered upon a table, usually the cutting table, said scarificatlon ofthe surface or surfaces of the plastic clay material resulting in theformat on of shallow grooves which may extend diagonally across thesurface, or at right angles to the edges of the material or parallel tosaid edge. The shallow grooves are produced in the surface of theplastic material by suitable mechanical means, preferably by the actionof a stiff wire brush which is rotated into contact with the surface asthe material passes along the table.

Subsequent to scoring the surface of the material, the latter is cuttransversely into sections of suitable length, and the block is formedor baked in the usual manner.

The article produced by this process is characterized by a surfacepossessing a finished appearance having certain artistic qualities whichenable the blocks to be used in the construction of Walls withoutrequiring separate treatment, such as the application of stucco, toconceal the rough, irregular and objectionable appearance of ordinarytile blocks.

Figure l is a side view of so much of a tile forming machine as isnecessary to an understanding of this invention, said figureillustrating two rotatable brushes in position for treating the topsurface and one side surface of a column of plastic clay material as thesame emerges from the forming die and travels along the table.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts illustrated in Fig. 1, omitting theforming die.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a hollow tile, one surface of which isfinished in accordance with this invention.

My invention can be carried out in any suitable form of machine, and,for the purpose of illustrating one of such machines, Fig. 1 shows atile forming die A, the latter being constructed to form the plasticclay material, substantially as illustrated in Fig. 3. As is usual inthe art, the clay is treated preliminarily in a pug mill and othermachinery so as to reduce the same to the desired plastic conditionsuitable for working it in the formin die, and this clay material isforced mechanically through the die so that the clay material issues ina continuous Patented Feb. 4, 1919.-

tions and corresponding cells will vary in the different tiles and,furthermore, the end Walls and one side wall may be formed with thedove-tail grooves f. These grooves, however, are not an essentialfeature. It will be understood that the clay material forms the formingdie with the walls, webs and grooves as shown in Fig. 3, but one or moresurfaces of the clay material are left smooth and unfinished as suchmaterial emerges from the die. As shown, one side Wall is minus thedovetail grooves so that the surface of this wall may be subjected tothe treatment of a rotary brush for the purpose of imparting the"desired finish to said surface in accordance with this invention. It isapparent that the longitudinal dove-tail grooves may be omitted from thetop surface of the clay material 'so that the top' surface is also plain"and .unfinished as the clay material leaves the forming die, and thusthe surfaces of the top and one side are adapted to be finished inaccordance with this invention, the block with the two finished surfacesbeing especially' adapted for use at the corner of a building.

The stream or column X of plastic clay material is supported on asuitable table C, the latter having its receiving end adjacent to theoutlet of the forming die. This supporting table 0 may be of the usualor any preferred construction known to the art, and with this supportingtable is associated means for cutting the column or stream of claymaterial into lengths suitable for the resulting tiles. As theconstruction of the supporting table and the cutting mechanism are wellknown to those skilled in the art, it is unnecessary to illustrate thesame herein.

In Figs. 1 and 2 there are shown two r0- tatable brushes D E, the formerbeing positioned for operation upon the top surfaCe of the stream orcolumn of plastic clay material, whereas the latter is at one side ofthe material X for treating the surface of a side wall of suchclay'material. Each brush embodies stiff wire bristles of snit-v ableconstruction and arrangement for scarifying the surface of the claymaterial. Each brush performs two important functions, first, shallowgrooves are cut lnto the surface of the clay material, and second, the

surface of the clay material is so distributed as to eliminate slightirregularities produced therein by the forming die, whereby the surfaceof the resulting tile is finished to impart an artistic appearancethereto, substantially as shown at B on the tile B of Fig. 3.

The brush D is provided with an arbor (Z which" is journaled in suitablebearings provided in standards 45. These standards are fastened to apartof table C so that they are adapted to be raised or lowered or to be ited be ifieren p e t whereby the brush m y e .ediueee n ver a directionto suit the different sizes of the ,clay material, or said brush may bepositioned ee if er n n es of i clina n e e th p eurieee of the tream ereelem re el y material. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, brush D ine d e reeth Pa h f he n etilinearly movable column or stream of clay t ri l, e ipeee f om t e d e a d .e en the table, and said brush is adapted to be ae y y iteble me e fer the p rp se f a in he i t there f s s o e e y'metriel a th top P eti h r o v rti e Pur se f 'e r iy ne he ur ee ef ee dey ateriel, i Pre e ie a l gre yee 9 gen lly i he ear a e f e at r sa di iaseee re e e 9 mpe n desir apnee il ensl'rejul ng n he e e eti rfaelB" o them O ou s h u h may b ft d, tee ye i ed p it nre ativ "1: he patf the l y mate ia the us may be a ht angles o th path ,ef th eley mateialist to p l e t e sh llow r e e 9 in .I f reeti n lengthw ee ef ahefleand. re to h d es hereof, andyaga a the may be shifted to anyworkingposit on.

The side brush E is carriedonan arbore whi h s. ou t d if; fe me e.secured ad-i je e y we pa t of table; 9- Z$ei Ie ie ru s v w a .eee ryig a neli e re eieien e ees e. ath f f y me f "f he umnof c ay m te el,an einth hmeh is rotated the bristles thereof treat side Surface efyeeidle'y m te 'ielre .ieeit ees nt it ee fyit by P odu n th sage el 'g e l.011 h surfeee 9 p e of e side walls, see Fig. 1.

s sh wn, eeeh' rush i prey ded wit a crank i f r t e PUP-P9 6 ofrotating said rush by ed but obv eue y eth fmeei e ey be 'rleye for iprt nerotery Lin iQ t th iw h e- Theb lieheefmeyfbe pera ed i d ual y eiif des red euiife e pe me emmw be employed fe 1 tating the brushessimultaneously.

n p r t th p ep ed ie e mate i is n e h -u h du in d A and merges in eei i i ee ie em e etreem' therefrom, the latter having the o d ime e ens0i t 1e eb w duced. The material travels in a rectilinear path alongtable C and as it moves relative to brushes D E the latter are rotatedfor the purpose of bringing the bristles thereof into contact with thetop surface and one side surface of the clay material. The brushes actto displace the clay material in a way to secure the two-fold functionof producing the diagonal grooves in the surfaces of said material andto redistribute said material so as to eliminate irregularities in suchsurfaces of the material. It is apparent that the side brush may beadjusted away from the material X when it is desired to impart theartistic appearance to the top surface only, and, again, the upper brushD may be withdrawn from an operative relation to the material should itbe desired to treat a side surface of the column or stream of claymaterial.

After a suitable length of material emerges from the die, the clay iscut transversely by suitable cutting mechanism so as to produce tiles ofthe desired length, and these tiles are then burned or baked in theusual way so as to harden them. Of course, the tiles may be subjected toany other or desired treatment.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is In the art of producing hollowtile blocks with finished surfaces, the improvement which consists inscarifying the surface of plastic clay material upon the deliverythereof from a forming die by producing in such surface cuts extendingdiagonally of the block and simultaneously with, the scarificationdistributing the material upon the surface intermediate said cutswhereby there is eliminated from the'surface the irregularities producedby the action of the formin die.

fl n testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, JOHN H. FRITZINGER.

Witnesses:

H. I. BERNHARD, M. G. RODRIGUEZ.

Copies of thil patent may be obtained for five cent: each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of retentl, Washington, D. 0."

